1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the production of float glass.
2. Related Arts
A conventional float glass production line comprises a glass melting furnace, otherwise known as a tank, in which batch material is melted and the resultant molten glass is refined and conditioned, a float glass forming chamber, otherwise known as a bath, in which molten glass received from the furnace is formed into a float glass ribbon, and an annealing lehr in which the ribbon cools during its travel from the bath to a wareroom in which the glass is cut into plates and stacked. The capacity, i.e. the maximum throughput, of such a line is determined by the maximum throughput of the lowest capacity part of the line, and the line may be required to operate at different throughputs and to make different products, e.g. different glass thicknesses (substances), at different times. This can limit the efficient use of the furnace which may frequently have to operate below capacity and of the float forming chamber which may have to be equipped to produce a variety of products.
There have been prior proposals for feeding a plurality of flat glass forming chambers from a single glass melting furnace--see for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,932,165. However, such production arrangements run the risk of impaired glass quality, both with regard to discrete faults such as stones or bubble and with regard to the overall optical quality, which with float glass generally has to be of a standard considerably higher than that for other forms of glass including other forms of flat glass.